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REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMITTEE, 



RELATING TO THE DESTRUCTION 



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OP THE 



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,' AUGUST 11, 1834. 






BOSTON: 
J. II. EASTBURN, CITY PRINTER, 

1834. 



( 



BURNING OF THE URSUOME CdWEWT. 



At a public meeting of the citizens of Boston, held at Faneuil Hall, on 
the 12th day of August, 1834, the following Resolutions were unanimous- 
adopted. 

Resolved, That in the opinion of the citizens of Boston, the late attack on the 
UrsK Convent in Charlestown, occupied only by defenceless females, was a 
base and cowardly act, for which the perpetrators deserve the contempt and de- 

te l£4 TL^rdSuction of property and danger of life caused thereby, 
callsloudly on all good citizens to express individually and collectively the ab- 
horrence they feel of this high-handed violation of the laws. 

Resolved T hat we, the Protestant citizens of Boston, do pledge ourselves col- 
lecSy and individually, to unite with our Catholic brethren m protecting thexr 
nersons their property," and their civil and religious rights. 
P Resolved T\Z the Mayor and Aldermen be requested to take all measures, 
cons s ten* with law, to carry the foregoing resolution into effect, and as citizens 
we tender our personal services to support the laws under the direction of the 

C \ a *otoc°J lt That the Mayor be requested to nominate a committee from the citi- 
zens atlar-e to investigate the proceedings of the last night, and to adopt every 
n^lem&Vtoins&g the authors, and abettors of this outrage to justice. 
The following Committee was nominated by the Mayor :— 
HG Otis John D Williams, James T.Austin, Henry Lee, James Clark, 
Cy^us Alge 'Jolin HensW, Francis J. Oliver, Mark Healy, Charles G Lonng 
Znp'pnp T^anc Harris Thomas H. Perkins, John Rayner, Henry Gassett, 
DaSe?D BrodleaS, NoaT'E rook™ H. F. Baker, Z. Cook Jr., George Darracott 
Samuel Hubbard, Henry Farnam, Benjamin P. Hallett, John K. Snnpson, John 
Pntton Beniamin Rich, William Sturgis, Charles P. Cuitis. 

On mS of M ^ George Bond, the committee of twenty-eight were requested 
to conr/er "he expediency of providing funds to repanr the damage done to the 
Convent, &c. 

Si^TtoteS^e^lJoSd^ requested to offer a very liberal 
re^?fto any indrvml'who, in case of further excesses, will arrest and bring 
to punishment a leader in such outra | e £ EODORE LYMAN> Jr ., Chairman. 
Zebedee Cook, Jr., Secretary. 






■ 

I 



REPORT. 



The Committee appointed at Faneuil Hall, at 'he meeting on the 12th 

ult., to investigate the recent outrages in Charlestown, and take measures 

for bringing the perpetrators to justice, and also to consider the expediency 

of providing funds to repair the damage done to the Convent, believing that 

an account of their proceedings and of the results of their inquiries may be 

acceptable, respectfully 

REPORT, 

That, upon the second day succeeding that of their appointment, they 
entered upon the discharge of their duties, and continued in session every 
day from 9 A.M. to sunset, with the intermission of Sundays and the usual 
time for dining, until the 27th ult., when the afternoon sittings were dis- 
pensed with. 

The most active and vigorous measures within the scope of their author- 
ity were adopted to obtain intelligence, and have been persevered in till the 
present time — sub-committees being frequently despatched to various parts 
of the city and to the neighbouring towns, and messengers- constantly em- 
ployed to obtain the attendance of such persons as were supposed capable of 
giving useful information. 

The number of which the Committee was originally composed, being 
insufficient for the discharge of its various and arduous duties, and some 
of the gentlemen appointed, having declined the service, the aid of several 
others was requested, who have been among the most efficient of its 
members. 

The Committee being invested with no power to compel appearance, or 
take examinations under oath, were careful to notify those who came before 
them, that their attendance and statements were entirely voluntary ; and 
that no use would be made of the information they might give, unless it 
should be thought necessary to summon them as witnesses before a magis- 
trate or judicial tribunal.* 

In this manner more than one hundred and forty persons, and some of 
them repeatedly, have been examined, and much important information has 
been procured, which has led to the arrest of several individuals, and con 

•This latter assurance was gtvten tu most of the persons who appeared in the Committee-Room, in 

order to remove the apprehensions entertained by them or some of them, for their personal safety, if 
it should become known to the rioters oi th< ir fi ienda that they had given information to the Commit- 
tee, inculpating persons concerned in the not. — Sub Committee. 



stituted important additions to the evidence upon which other arrests have 
been made; and, it is hoped, will lead to further disclosures. But it is ob- 
vious that any statement of the testimony would, at this time, be improper. 

The whole number of arrests and commitments made by the efforts of the 
Charlestown Committee and Magistrates, and of this Committee, is thirteen ; 
of which, eight are upon charges of a capital nature. 

It appeared immediately upon commencing the investigation, that the de- 
struction of the Convent might be attributed primarily to a widely extended 
rpopular aversion, founded in the belief, that the establishment was obnox- 
ious to those imputations of cruelty, vice, and corruption, so generally cred- 
ited of similar establishments in other countries, and was inconsistent with 
the principles of our national institutions and in violation of the laws of the 
Commonwealth. 

And which aversion in the minds of many, had been fomented to hatred, 
by representations injurious to the moral reputation of the members of that 
community, attributing to them impurity of conduct, and excessive cruelties 
in their treatment of each other, and of the pupils ; and denunciatory of the 
institution, as hostile, in its character and influences, alike to the laws of God 
and man : and also by reports, that one of the sisterhood, Mrs. Mary John' 
formerly Miss Elizabeth Harrison, after having fled from the Convent to 
escape its persecutions, and then been induced by the influence or threats 
of Bishop Fenwick to return, had been put to death, or secretly imprisoned, 
or removed ; so that her friends could neither see nor obtain information 
concerning her. These assertions and reports were not only prevalent in 
this city and its vicinity, but, the Committee have reason to believe, perva- 
ded many distant parts of the Commonwealth, and have extended into 
other States ; affording a monitory lesson of the extent and excitability of 
public credulity when in accordance with popular prejudice. 

It was doubtless under the influence of these feelings and impressions, 
that some of the conspirators were led to design the destruction of the Con- 
vent, and to avail themselves of the aid of those miscreants, who, actuated 
by the love of violence, or the hope of plunder, were the foremost in the 
perpetration of the outrage. 

The Committee, therefore, considered it an important part of their duty 
to make faithful inquiry into the character of the Institution, and into the 
truth of assertions and reports of such fatal influence ; believing that au- 
thentic information upon these subjects was demanded in justice to the suf- 
ferers and the public ; and might be instrumental in leading to the detec- 
tion of those who had instigated or aided in the commission of the crime ; 
and who, it is feared, are still, in great measure, sheltered by the preva- 
lence of the impressions above referred to. 

The Committee are not influenced in communicating the result of this 
inquiry, by any impression that the truth of the imputations, if established, 
would have constituted any justification of the torong ; being entirely of 
opinion, that whatever might have been the character of the institution, or 
the deportment of its members, they could give no sanction to this high- 
handed violation of the law. Still less can it be supposed that they have 
any disposition to aid in the dissemination of the Catholic Faith, being u- 
nanimously opposed to its characteristic tenets. 

But having discovered the existence of the prepossessions so generally 



o 

prevalent, and perceiving how much they affected the disposition of tho.se 
called to give testimony, and how often they were referred to as a pallia- 
tion of the offence, they have felt imperatively bound by a regard for truth, 
by a just appreciation as they hope of the candour of their fellow citizens, 
and also by a sense of justice to the injured, to make known the conclu- 
sions, to which the evidence before them has irresistibly led. And in 
doing this, they are careful to make no statements but those of which they 
consider themselves to have evidence amply sufficient to sustain them, were 
they inquesiion before a judicial tribunal. 

The Institution at Charlestown was of the Ursuline Order, which was 
first established in the year 1536, for the purposes of administering relief 
to the sick and the afflicted, and of superintending the education of female 
youth ; and so exemplary had been the character and deportment of this 
order of Nuns, and soextensively beneficial were their services in the cause 
of education and Christian charity, that, when other convents were abol- 
ished by many Governments in Europe, these alone were not only permit- 
ted, but encouraged to remain. 

Unlike the other order of Convents, into which the members repaired for 
the avowed purposes of religious seclusion from the pleasures and duties of 
the world, and in which corruptions and abuses might be supposed to exist 
beyond the reach of human detection, the members of this religious com- 
munity, by the necessity of their order and by their vows, devote them- 
selves to those services in the cause of humanity, which render them at all 
limes subjects of public observation ; and expose their personal deportment, 
as well as the character of their institution, to the strictest scrutiny. 

However just, therefore, might be the popular odium against an institu- 
tion which secluded its members from the occupations and enjoyments of 
iife, cutting them off from the sympathies of society, and dooming them to 
an irrevocable concealment, into which the eye of friendship and affection 
could never penetrate, and where suffering might be without remedy, and 
crime without punishment, there can be no rational pretence for similar 
feelings towards an institution, whose members were openly engaged in the 
most useful and elevated offices of humanity in the presence of the world ; 
who had it in their power to leave the institution at their pleasure ; and 
whose dwelling was filled with those who were not members of their com- 
munity, and accessible at proper times to the parents and friends of its nu- 
merous inmates. 

The institution in question was founded in the year 1820, by Doctors 
Matignon and Cheverus, whose names will be, in this community, a suffi- 
cient guaranty of its purity and Christian character, with funds, given by a 
native citizen of Boston. By their invitation, four ladies of the Ursu- 
line Order, emigrated to this country in the year 1820, and established 
themselves at first in this city. They afterwards, in the year 1820, remov- 
ed to Charlestown, and occupied the Farm House at the foot of Mt. Bene- 
dict until the main building on its summit was finished in the year 1827. 
In the mean time the reputation of their Seminary was widely extended, 
and the number of pupils from all the New England, and from many of the 
Southern States, and the British Provinces, rapidly increased ; so that in the 
year 1829, it was found necessary to add two large wings to the building 
for their accommodation. 



The number of Nuns has varied at different times from four to ten, each 
of whom performed a distinct part in the care of the establishment, or the 
education of the children. For admission as a member of this community, 
the candidate, after a preliminary period of probation, enters upon a novi- 
ciate for two years by taking the white veil, in order to give her ample 
time, after full experience of the discipline, duties and principles of the 
Institution, to determine whether they are such as she shall be solicitous to 
enter upon for life. During this period no restraints by religious vows or 
otherwise are imposed to prevent her secession from the establishment , 
and the Committee have plenary evidence from those who have thus 
seceded, of their freedom in this respect. 

Upon receiving the black veil, the religious vow is taken of devotion to 
the Institution for life ; but even then no forcible means could be exercis- 
ed to detain any one, who might choose to return to the world ; and their 
legal right to do so, is perfectly well understood by every member of that 
community. 

No penances or punishments are ever forcibly enforced or inflicted ; 
they are not only always voluntary, but can never even thus take place, but 
by permission of the head of the order, which is not granted unless the 
applicant be in good health. 

The Committee do not mean to be understood, as believing, that there 
may not be a mental subjection, not less effectual upon the individuals con- 
cerned than one created by external force ; but they consider this a matter 
of religious faith, resting entirely between themselves and the only Being to 
whom they are accountable ; and one which neither renders them amena- 
ble to public law, nor in any degree justly obnoxious to popular odium. 

Some of those, who after entering upon their noviciate seceded from the 
Convent, still retain the warmest affection for its members, and bear willing 
testimony to their unvaried kindness and the purity and excellence of their 
deportment. 

The number of pupils has varied from forty to sixty, during each of the 
past five years, being for the most part children of those among the most 
reputable families in the country of various religious denominations, (the 
number of Catholics never exceeding ten at any one time) and wholly 
unrestrained in their communications with their friends concerning all 
that transpired in the seminary. 

No means were taken to influence or affect their religious opinions ; their 
attendance upon the services in the chapel was voluntary, never exacted. 
The only religious services, forming a part of the system, were morning and 
evening prayers, common to all christians, and discourses by the Bishop, 
on Sundays, upon the practical truths and religious duties which are pe- 
culiar to no sect. Nor can it be ascertained that any pupil placed under 
their charge for the purposes of education^ has been converted from any other 
to the Catholic faith, or induced to become a member of the community. 

Of these facts and of the truly maternal kindness with which the chil- 
dren were uniformly treated, and of their filial affection to the ladies of the 
establishment, and of the entire confidence and respect to which they are 
entitled, the Committee have the fullest assurances both from children and 
parents. Nor can it be believed that, if undue severity had been exercised 
upon the pupils ; or harshness, or cruelty had been inflicted upon any mem- 



ber of the community ; or if any thing inconsistent with purity of deport- 
ment had existed, it could have escaped the scrutinizing observation of so 
many inquisitive and active minds ; or could fail to be communicated to 
their friends ; and still less can it be believed, that upon a disclosure of 
this sort, a father or mother could be found who would suffer a daughter to 
remain under their roof. 

In pursuing their inquiries into the truth of the injurious representations 
and reports above referred to, members of the Committee have had an 
interview with the young lady upon whose authority they were generally 
supposed to rest. She entirely disclaimed most of those passing under the 
sanction of her name, and particularly all affecting the moral purity of the 
members of the Institution, or the ill treatment of the pupils under their 
care, and confined her accusations to the system of severe penance which 
she alleges, the nuns and noviciates were compelled to suffer for the most 
trivial offences, or for the purposes of religious discipline — to restraints 
imposed upon those who were members of the community or subject to its 
rules — and to cruelties alleged to have been inflicted in the form of pen- 
ance upon a member of the community in her last illness, by which her 
life was shortened. 

From her statement, therefore, it is evident that there could be, ex- 
cepting in the subject of the last accusation, no cause of public com- 
plaint; inasmuch as the other evils alleged, if existing, were confined to 
those who were voluntarily members of the institution, affecting neither the 
property nor the happiness of other individuals, nor tending in any wise to 
the injury of the public morals, or a violation of law. 

It further appears that her means of knowledge were derived from her 
having become a voluntary inmate of the house, for the purpose of receiv- 
ing a gratuitous education, and passing a term of probation for six months 
preparatory to her entering upon her noviciate as a Nun, if she should be 
considered by the sisterhood as qualified, and continue desirous so to do. 

The principal facts stated by her which it is deemed of importance to 
notice, are, that she was led to depart from the Convent secretly before the 
expiration of her term of probation by overhearing a conversation between 
Bishop Fenwick and the Superior, in which it was intimated or threaten- 
ed that she should be sent into the British Provinces ; and that the life of 
the Nun above mentioned was shortened by the severities and penances 
imposed upon her during the illness which terminated in her death. 

The Superior and Bishop Fenwick, between whom the above conversa- 
tion is alleged to have been heard, have both denied to the Committee that 
any such ever took place, and appealed to the fact, that it was well known, 
not only among the members of the Institution, but the pupils generally, 
that this young woman was not esteemed qualified to become a member 
of the community, but was to be dismissed at the end of her probation ; 
and of this fact the Committee have the assurance of several of the pupils. 

And with regard to the allegation of cruelty towards the deceased Nun, 
the Committee have not only the contradiction of all the members of the 
establishment, including two of her sisters by birth, who were witli her dur- 
ing her sickness and at the time of her death ; but also a written statement 
from Dr. Thompson, an eminent Physician in Charlestown, who attended 
her, of the origin, nature and progress of her disease, and of the manner in 



8 

which she was nursed and treated under his direction ; from which it 
would appear, that the tenderest care and solicitude were uniformly mani- 
fested for her comfort, and that allvvas done to smooth the pillow of sick- 
ness and death, which religious duty or sisterly affection could dictate. 

And concerning the probation of the young woman abovementioned, and 
her secret and sudden departure, it is stated by the ladies of the Institution 
and by others who were at that time in the Convent, that previously to being 
received on trial, she had made several earnest applications for admission, 
alleging that she was solicitous to find shelter in their community : that her 
applications were refused in the apprehension, that she was not a suitable 
candidate to become a member of it : lhat then she made similar applications 
to some of the clergy, through whose intervention and after a written 
communication to her father, which was never answered, she was finally 
received, and was immediately placed under a course of instruction in ele- 
mentary learning, and in music ; that up to the time of her departure, 
she appeared grateful for the kindness and instruction which she had re- 
ceived, and expressed an earnest desire to be permitted to enter upon her 
noviciate ; but it being judged that she was not qualified to be admitted 
into the community as one of its members, it had been resolved to dismiss 
her at the end of six months, when her unexpected departure relieved them 
from this painful necessity. 

It is also proper to state that many of the representations made by this 
individual, of the nature of the penances and restraints imposed in the Con- 
vent, are denied by the united testimony of all its present members and of 
others who were resident there in their noviciate or as domestics, during 
the time when these abuses are alleged to have taken place. 

As to the reports in relation to the supposed murder or secretion of 
Miss Harrison, it is only necessary for the Committee to recapitulate the 
facts already before the public, with the further assurance that the relation 
has been personally confirmed by her to some of them, who were well ac- 
quainted with her before the destruction of the Convent, and have repeat- 
edly seen and conversed with her since. 

This female, a native of Philadelphia, entered upon her noviciate in the 
Institution in the year 1822, and became a member, in full communion, in 
the year 1824, after knowledge and experience of the principles and rules 
of it, and of the manners and dispositions of its members. She has one 
brother and a brother-in-law living in this city, with whom she has constant 
intercourse and who have been accustomed to visit her at the Convent at 
pleasure. 

She is the teacher of music in the Seminary, and for some time before 
the 28th day of July, had been engaged in giving fourteen lessons per day, 
of at least forty-five minutes each, and by the confinement and exertion of 
these arduous efforts, had impaired her health and was suffering under a 
nervous excitement or fever, which, on that day, increased to a delirium ; un- 
der the influence of which unconsciously to herself, she left the house and 
proceeded to that of Mr. Edward Cutter in the immediate neighborhood, 
whence at her request, she was carried to the residence of Mr Cotting, in 
West Cambridge. 

On the morning after her departure, her brother, Mr Thomas Harrison, 
of this city, went to her and found her surprised at the step she had taken ; 



at her request he accompanied Bishop Fenwick there in the afternoon, and 
she gladly returned with them to the Convent ; where she was welcomed by 
her anxious friends, and remained until the night of the outrage, receiv- 
ing from them every kindness and attention which her situation required. 

The story of her flight and of her alleged forcible return, and subse- 
quent death or removal, had, however, obtained such currency and was so 
generally believed in Charlestown and the neighboring towns, that the Se- 
lectmen of that place considered it their duty to investigate the affair ; 
and upon application to the Superior, a time of their own appointment was 
fixed by the Board to visit the Convent. Accordingly on the 11th August, 
at 3 P. M. they repaired there in a body and were received by Miss Har- 
rison, the Nun who was supposed to be murdered or secreted, and were, by 
her alone, conducted throughout the establishment, into every room and 
closet, from the cellar to the cupola, inclusive, and were answered every in- 
quiry which they saw fit to make. 

The result of this examination was their entire satisfaction " that every 
thing was right," and they proceeded from the building to the house of one 
of their number in the neighborhood, to prepare a certificate to that effect, 
to be published in the papers of the following day. 

The Committee have been unable to find any report in circulation injurious 
to the reputation of the members of the community, which may not be traced 
to one of the above sources, or which has any other apparent foundation. 

And having thus given to the public an authentic statement of all the 
facts affecting the character and reputation of the Institution and its mem- 
bers, so far as they have come to their knowledge, and of which they have 
abundant proof, the Committee have acquitted themselves of this part of their 
duty and leave to their fellow citizens the question, whether this Institution 
was in any degree obnoxious to the fatal imputations so generally circulated 
and believed, or to the public odium so unfortunately prevalent. 

Kor same time previous to the 1 Ith day of August, the excitement of the 
public mind had become so great in Charlestown, that the destruction of 
the Convent was the subject of frequent threats and conversation, and on 
the preceding day inflammatory hand-bills had been posted. 

There can be no doubt that a conspiracy had been formed, extending 
into many of the neighboring towns, but the Committee are of opinion that 
it embraced very few of respectable character in society : though, some 
such may perhaps be accounted guilty of an offence, no less heinous, 
morally considered, in having excited the feelings which led to the design, 
or countenanced and instigated those engaged in its execution. And there 
is reason to believe, that those who had determined on the destruction of 
the building, were induced to an earlier accomplishment of their purpose 
than was originally intended, by a publication in the Mercantile Journal 
headed " Mysterious," (afterwards copied into other papers) which, it ap- 
pears, was inserted by the news-gatherer of that journal, without other 
authority than the idle gossip then prevalent in Charlestown, (the falsehood 
of which might have been ascertained at any time by a walk of a few 
minutes from the office to the proper place of inquiry.) and also by a knowl- 
edge that the Selectmen had made their investigation, and the apprehension 
tha( a publication of its result, might, by allaying thft principal cause of th« 
excitement, prevent its execution. 
2 



10 

Soon after sunset several persons were seen at the gate of the avenue 
leading from the road to the Convent, and on being inquired of concerning 
the reason of being there, gave evasive and impertinent ansv\er> ; but there 
was nothing in their language or numbers which led to the belief that a 
serious riot was to be apprehended. Immediate information, however, was 
given of the fact to one or more of the Selectmen, and assurances were 
made in reply that no danger could possibly be anticipated. 

Soon after 9 o'clock, the rioters began to assemble in considerable num- 
bers, arriving on foot and in wagons from different quarters ; and a party of 
about forty or fifty proceeded to the front of the building, using violent and 
threatening language ; they were addressed by the Lady at the head of 
the establishment, who, desiring to know their wishes, was replied to that 
they wanted to enter and see the person alleged to be secreted ; she 
answered, that their Selectmen had that day visited the house and could 
give them satisfactory information, and that any of them on calling the next 
day at a suitable hour, might sse for themselves ; at the same time remon- 
strating against such violation of the peace and of the repose of so many 
children of their most reputable citizens. 

Shortly afterwards the same, or another party with increased numbers 
approached the Convent, using still more threatening and much gross and 
indecent language ; the Lady above referred to again addressed them in 
terms of remonstrance and reproach, and desired to know whether none of 
their Selectmen were present ; some of them replied that one was there, 
mentioning his name; he then came forward and announced his presence, 
stating that he was there for the purpose of defending her. She inquired 
whether he had procured the attendance of any others of the Board ; and 
upon being answered in the negative, replied that she would not trust the 
establishment to his protection, and that if he came there to protect them, 
he should show it by taking measures to disperse the mob. 

It appears from various testimony that he did attempt to dissuade the 
rioters from their design, by assurances that the Selectmen had seen the 
Nun who was supposed to have been secreted, and that the stories reported 
concerning her were untrue — but his assertions drew forth only expressions 
of distrust and insult. The mob continued upon the ground with much 
noise and tumult and were in that state left by this Magistrate, who re- 
turned home and retired to bed. 

At about eleven o'clock, a bonfire was kindled on the land of Alvah 
Kelly, adjoining that of the eastern boundary of the Convent, and distant 
about two hundred and seventy yards from the building, the fences of 
which were taken for the purpose ; this is believed to have been a concert- 
ed signal for the assembling of all concerned in the plot. 

The be!ls were then rung as for an alarm of fire in Charlestown and in this 
city, and great multitudes arrived from all quarters. Upon this alarm the 
Magistrate above mentioned arose and proceeded to procure the attendance 
of others of the Selectmen. In the meantime the ( harlestown engines and 
some from Boston had arrived, one of the latter of which passing those 
of Charlestown, which had halted opposite the bonfire, immediately pro- 
ceeded into the avenue leading to the Convent, where her arrival was greet- 
ed with a shout from some of the rioters upon the hill and among the shrubbe- 
ry, many of whom seizing hold of the rope, proceeded with her up the avenue, 



/ 



II 

around the circular walk to the front of the building, when the attack was 
instantly commenced by the breaking of fences, and the hurling of stones 
and clubs against the windows and doors. Upon this the engine, by the 
orler of its commander, .. s i imediately carried down into the road and 
stationed opposite the :>ate, where it remained during the night* 

At the time of this attack upon the Convent there were within its wall 
about sixty female children and ten adults; one of whom was in the last 
stages of pulmonary consumption, another suffering under convulsion fits, 
and the unhappy female, who had been the immediate cause of the excite- 
ment, was by the agitations of the night in raving delirium. 

JNo warning was given of the intended assault, nor could the miscreants, 
by whom it was made, have known whether their missiles might not kill or 
wound the helpless inmates of this devoted dwelling. Fortunately for them, 
cowardice prompted what mercy and manhood denied : after the first attack, 
the assailants paused awhile from the fear that some secret iorce was con- 
cealed in the Convent or in ambush to surprise them ; and in this interval the 
Governess was enabled to secure the retreat of her little flock and terrified 
sisters into the garden. But before this was fully effected, the rioters, find- 
ing they had nothing but women and children to contend against, regained 
their courage, and ere all the inmates could escape, entered the building. 

It appears that during these proceedings the Magistrate above referred 
to, with another of the Selectmen, had arrived and entered the Convent 
with the rioters, for the purpose, as they state, of assisting its inmates. 
The mob had now full possession of the house and loud cries were heard 
for torches or lights ; one of the Magistrates in question availed himself of 
this cry to deter the rioters from firing the building, by stating, that if lights 
were brought they might be detected. 

Three or four torches which were, or precisely resembled engine torches, 
were then brought up from the road ; and immediately upon their arrival, 
the rioters proceeded into every room in the building, rifling every drawer, 
desk, and trunk, which they found, and breaking up and destroying all the 
furniture and casting much of it from the windows ; sacrificing in their 
brutal fury, costly piano fortes and harps, and other valuable instruments ; 
the little treasures of the children, abandoned in their hasty flight; and 
even the vessels and symbols of Christian worship. 

After having thus ransacked every room in the building, they proceeded 
with great deliberation, about one o'clock, to make preparation for setting 
fire to it. For this purpose broken furniture, books, curtains, and oiher 
combustible materials, were placed in the centre of several ot the rooms ; 
and, as if in mockery of God as well as of man, the Bible was cast, with 
shouts of exultation, upon the pile first kindled ; and as upon this were sub- 
sequently thrown the vestments used in religious service, and the orna- 
ments of Che altar, these shouts and yells were repeated. Nor did they 
cease until the Cross was wrenched from its place, and cast into the flames, 
as the final triumph of this fiend-like enterprise. 

But the work of destruction did not end here Soon after the Convent 
was in flame s, the rioters passed to the library, or Bishop's lodge, which 

* Most of the members of this Company have been before the Committee, and deny any previous 
knowledge of a design to destroy the Convent, or any participation in (he riot; and it has bee ft 
stated in the public prints that the examining Magistrates of Charlestown expressed their opinion 
that this Company stood fully acquitted of nil concern in it. 



12 

stood near, and after throwing the books and pictures from the windows, a 
prey to those without, fired that also. 

Some time afterwards they pioceeded to the farm-house, formerly occu- 
pied as the Convent, and first making a similar assault with stones and 
clubs upon the doors and windows, in order to ascertain whether they had 
any thing to fear from persons within, the torches were delibetately applied 
to that building ; and, unwilling to leave one object connected with the 
establishment to escape their fury, although the day had broken, and three 
buildings were then in flames or reduced to ashes, the extensive barn, with 
its contents, was in like manner devoted to destruction. And not content 
with all this, they burst open the tomb of the establishment, rifled it of the 
sacred vessels there deposited, wrested the plates from the coffins, and expo- 
sed to view the mouldering remains of their tenants. 

Nor is it the least humiliating feature in this scene of cowardly and au- 
dacious violation of all that man ought to hold sacred and dear, that it was 
perpetrated in the presence of men vested with authority, and of multitudes 
of our fellow citizens, while not one arm was lifted in the defence of help- 
less women and children, or in vindication of the violated laws of God and 
man. The spirit of violence, sacrilege, and plunder, reigned triumphant. 
Crime alone seemed to confer courage ; while humanity, manhood, and 
patriotism, quailed, or stood irresolute and confounded in its presence. 

The Committee are satisfied upon evidence before them, of what it would 
indeed be injustice to many of their fellow citizens to doubt, that great 
numbers of those present were indignant spectators of these scenes, and 
would gladly have aided in the defence of the Convent and arrest of the 
rioters, had any attempt been made by either of the Magistrates or engi- 
neers of the fire department of Charlestown who were present, or by an 
engine company, or any person having, or assuming to have, authority to 
rally them for that purpose ; but no voice of authority was heard, and no 
remonstrance, but that of timidity, in effect giving courage to the assailants. 

Nor has any other satisfactory account been suggested why the mob was 
not arrested in its career, by the great multitudes by which it was surround- 
ed, than the supposition that, from the omission of magisterial interference, 
doubt and mistrust existed, whether the work were not so sanctioned by 
popular opinion, or the connivance of those in authority, that resistance 
would be hopeless. 

The fact that the dwelling of inoffensive females and children, guiltless 
of wrong to the persons, property, or reputation of others, and reposing in 
fancied security under the protection of the law, has been thus assaulted by 
a riotous mob and ransacked, plundered, and burnt to the ground, and its 
terrified inmates, in the dead hour of night, driven from their beds into the 
fields ; and that this should be done within the limits of one of the most 
populous towns of the commonwealth, and in the midst of an assembled 
multitude of spectators ; that the perpetrators should have been engaged for 
stven hours or more in the work of destruction, with hardly an effort to 
prevent or arrest them : that, many of them should afterwards be so far 
sheltered or protected by public sympathy or opinion, as to render the ordi- 
nary means of detection ineffectual ; and that the sufferers are entitled to 
no legal redress from the public, for this outrage against their persons and 
destruction of their property, is an event of fearful import as well as of the 
profoundest shame and humiliation. 



13 

It has come upon us like the shock of the earthquake, and has disclosed 
a state of society and public sentiment of which we believe no man was be- 
fore aware. 

If for the purpose, of destroying a person, or family, or Institution, it be 
only necessary to excite a public prejudice, by the dissemination of false- 
hoods and criminal accusations, and under its sanction to array a mob ; and 
there be neither an efficient magistracy nor a sense of public duty or jus- 
tice sufficient for its prevention, and if property may be thus sacrificed 
without the possibility of redress, who among us is safe 1 

The cry may be of bigotry to-day, and heresy to-morrow ; of public usur- 
pation at one time, and private oppression at another ; or any other of those 
methods by which the ignorant, the factious, and the desperate, may be ex- 
cited, and the victim may be sacrificed without protection or relief. 

It is hoped that the fearful warning thus suddenly given, enforced as it 
is by [similar occurrences in other states, will arrest the public attention ; 
check the prevailing disposition to give credence to injurious and calumni- 
ous reports ; will produce throughout the country a higher sense of the 
qualifications requisite for magisterial office ; and lead to amendments and 
improvements of our laws, which are thus found so sadly defective. 

And above all may it rebuke the spirit of intolerance thus unexpectedly 
developed, so fatal to the genius of our institutions, and unrestrained, so 
fatal to their continuance. If there be one feeling which more than any 
other should pervade this country, composing, as it were, the atmosphere of 
social life, it is that of enlightened toleration, comprehending all within 
the sphere of its benevolence, and extending over all the shield of mutual 
protection. 

The Committee trust that they shall not be thought to exceed the bounds 
of propriety, by adopting this as a fitting occasion for the suggestion of 
those amendments of the law, the necessity of which is made particularly 
obvious by this unhappy event. 

The first which they submit, is forced upon their consideration by the 
difficulties they have encountered in their efforts to accomplish the purposes 
of their appointment ; having no official power to compel the attendance 
of witnesses, or examination under oath, or take any other requisite meas- 
ures for the satisfactory investigation of the guilt of persons supposed to be 
implicated ; but against whom sufficient evidence, without these means, 
cannot be procured. 

The only cases, excepting when the grand jury is actually in session, in 
which, under the existing laws, these measures can be resorted to, is where 
a complaint and arrest have been made ; and, as this complaint must be the 
unofficial act of an individual, and being necessarily public, often exposes 
him to great odium, and, in many cases, to personal danger, it is rarely 
ventured upon in opposition to public opinion or prejudice ; and seldom in 
any case, excepting where the evidence is in the first instance conclusive, 
or the party implicated is too humble to be accounted a dangerous enemy. 

If, on the other hand, a bench of magistrates were empowered in similar 
cases to compel the appearance of witnesses, and conduct their examina- 
tions under the authority of law, it is obvious that the means of detecting 
those concerned in the commission of crime, would be far more certain and 
efficacious; and those guilty of its inception and in tigation, would often be 



14 

brought to that punishment, which now generally falls upon the humbler 
instruments of their villainy. 

This power might be vested in the judges of the court of Common Pleas, 
and such of the justices of the peace in each county as might be selected 
for that purpose, and thus be deposited in hands iree from danger of abuse. 
A similar one exists in England, vested in magistrates designated ior 
that purpose ; and it is not known that it has ever been pen rtcd to the 
purposes of oppression, though often instrumental in detecting criminals, who 
might otherwise have escaped with impunity. 

The second improvement which the Committee venture to suggest is the 
enactment of a law, rendering Magistrates indictable, whenever guilty of an 
omission to discharge their duty, in the prevention of outrage or crime. 

If rulers are the servants of the people, it ought to be understood that as 
such they are accountable lor the negleit as well as the abuse of their pow- 
ers ; that the authority with which they are vested must be exercised and 
shall he obeyed. And if men with no higher sense of duty than accounta- 
bility to the party, by whom they may have been elected, and no more hon- 
orable fear than that of the loss of office shall be placed in authority over 
us, they, the security of whose persons and property may depend upon 
their fidelity, should at least have the power of holding them to legal re- 
sponsibility. 

A further, and perhaps still more salutary addition to our subsisting laws, 
would be a provision that in cases of destruction of life or property occa- 
sioned by riot or tumult, the public shall be responsible to indemnify the 
sufferers to the whole extent of their pecuniary loss ; restoring the value of 
the property destroyed, and making suitable provision for all, whose means 
of support shall be lost or impaired by the personal injury of themselves, 
or of those upon whom they may be dependant. 

A provision of this sort seems called for by the first principles of justice 
and civil government. 

The basis of every political community is the surrender of the right of 
persona! defence, and the contribution of individual property, that each 
may enjoy the mutual protection of all. 

It is a direct contract between each individual and society at large, in 
which the latter receives a full equivalent for the guaranty to the former of 
security of life, liberty and property. It is therefore the duty of the commu- 
nity to provide and exercise the means necessary for affording such protec- 
tion : and whenever such means do not exist or the servants entrusted with 
them are faithless to their duty, the contract is broken, and the sufferers 
are entitled to redress. 

Nor would the expediency of such provision be less obvious than its jus- 
tice, as the personal interest which every one would feel in this responsibil- 
ity, would render him vigilant and active in preventing a tumult, the 
consequences of which might be visited upon himself ; at the same lime 
it would influence the people in the election of magistrates, who might be 
relied on in the hour of difficulty and danger, as competent and fearless 
in the discharge of their duty. 

The opinion so generally prevalent that the sufferers in this instance 
were legally entitled to such redress against the town of Charlestown or 
the county of Middlesex, is a striking proof how well such a provision 



15 

would accord with that sense of justice, which wo hope will over distinguish 
this community. 

But the provision above su ; • -'" !. vo i! !. it is fc red, be insufficient for 
the purpose, without the organization of a more efficient and ready force 
than can now be called into ac n ; and the Committee would -suggest 
the expediency of legal provision therefor. 

It is probable indeed that the mere knowledge of the existence of such 
organization would often of itself suffice to prevent riot and tumult. 

Legislative enactments, however, can avail but little, unless a check be 
given to the tendency now pervading all parts of the country to refer every 
question to popular will, instead of public law. 

In Europe, the staff of the police officer is backed by the sabre of the 
dragoon or the musket of the gens d'arme ; but in our favoired land, there 
is no immediate force but the posse comitatus, nor ultimate authority but 
the judicial tribunal : the one wholly, the other essentially, an appeal to the 
people. 

If it be true of other countries that all power rests in public opinion, it 
is in ours alone that this principle is fully understood and acted upon. 
Our only security, therefore, is an enlightened obedience to law ; to be en- 
forced by all in conversation and example, as the highest duty of patriotism ; 
for upon this and this alone, depends the safety of our political freedom. 

If the time shall arrive when popular will shall take place of law, whether 
this be by riots and tumults, or under the form of judicial proceedings, the 
grave of our nation's happiness and glory will have been prepared. Life, 
liberty, and property, will be held at the will of malignity, prejudice, and 
passion ; violence will become the common means of self defence ; and our 
only refuge from the horrors of anarchy, will be under the comparatively 
peaceable shelter of military despotism 

The remaining subject submitted to the consideration of the committee 
was the expediency of raising funds for the purpose of indemnifying the 
sufferers. 

They are of opinion that the plainest principles of equity require remu- 
neration to be made; but are at the same lime impressed with the conviction, 
that a donation, derived from private contribution, does not so well comport 
with public justice, and would not constitute so entire and expressive a vin- 
dication of the majesty of the law, as would a compensation proceeding 
from the Government. 

By the theory of our institutions, the Magistrates of Charlestown or of the 
county of Middlesex are vested with authority, and have under their control 
a force sufficient for the prevention or suppression of popular riots and tu- 
mults. And if the fact corresponded with the theory, that town or county 
would be justly responsible to make good the pecuniary loss occasioned by 
this outrage. 

But if that authority is insufficient for such emergencies, and that force 
is defective in strength or organization, so that it cannot bj brought to act 
with promptness and energy, then the fault rests with the whole communi- 
ty, and upon them should fall the burthen of indemnity. 

The committee cannot forbear expressing the hope that a public outrage 
committed in such open and audacious defiance of the law, inflicting so 
deep a wound upon the reputation of the Commonwealth and through her 



16 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 013 515 ft 



upon the hitherto fair fame of New England, will receive the early atten- 
• i of the Legislature; and that a committee will be appointed with full 
!•;>> ei to investigate the character ol this Institution and the conduct of its 
members, and to take measures for the further detection of those implicat- 
ed in its destruction ; and that a suitable compensation will be provided for 
the sufferers, so that the same page on which the history of our disgrace 
shall !jc recorded, may bear testimony to the promptitude of our justice to 
the injured. 

They lay aside all questions of the expediency of indemnifying the suf- 
erers, «rs means of aiding in the support of the. Catholic Faith. Of their 
individual feelings and opinions upon that subject, their fellow citizens can 
have no doubt ; but they look upon the obligations of justice as of higher 
import and more deeply affecting our welfare as a political community. 

It is enough that the property of a portion of our fellow citizens, erected 
under the sanction of the laws, paying its full proportion of the expenses 
of Government, and admitted on all hands to be entitled to its protection ; 
has been openly and wantonly destroyed through the insufficiency of those 
laws, or the supineness or timidity ot those entrusted with their execution. 

If resrard is to be had to the religious or political tendency of an Institu- 
tion, in determining whether it be entitled to protection or redress, it might 
be hard to find one against which the popular cry of superstition or heresy 
or corruption might not be raised. To resort to such considerations, is 
the direct substitution of popular will or passion in placn of public law, and 
justice. And if this cruel and unprovoked injury, perpetrated in the heart 
of the Commonwealth, be permitted to pass unrepaired, our boasted tol- 
eration and love of order, our vaunted obedience to law, and our ostenta- 
tious proffers of an asylum to the persecuted of all sects and nations, rriaj 
well be accounted vainglorious pretensions, or yet more wretched hypocrisy. 

CHARLES G. LORING, Chairman. 



Charles P. Curtis, 
Henry Lee, 
John Cotton, 
Horace Mann, 
Richard S. Fay, 
John D. Williams, 
Cyrus Alger, 
John Henshaw, 
Francis J. Oliver, 
Mark Healy, 
Charles G. Greene, 
Isaac Harris, 
Daniel D. Brodhead, 
Henry F. Baker, 
Z. Cook, Jr. 
Henry Farnam, 
William Sturgis, 
Benjamin Rich, 
William Hales. 



Joseph Eveleth, 
Charles H. Parker, 
R C. Winthrop, 
John L. Dimmock, 
J. L. English, 
Nathan Appleton, 
William Appleton, 
David Child. 
Samuel K. Williams, 
Theophilus Parsons, 
Edward Blake, 
L. Stanwood, 
Thomas Motley, 
Henry Gassett, 
James Clark, 
Geokce Darracott, 
John Kettel, 
Edward D. Sohier. 



L1B HAKY Oh CONGHhSS 




0014 013515A 



Hollinger 

pH S3 

Mill Run P03-2193 



